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2014 Power Rankings-Playoffs 1
Posted 12/2/14 at 5:07pm. There were no week 13 Power Rankings posted for the 2014 season. Come one, come all, to the greatest show on earth! The Playoffs are upon us: Three weeks of nailbiting matchups pitting the best of the best against one another to see who will take home the 2014 League of Champions Trophy. This weeks power rankings feature several segments highlighting each teams history in the league as well as discussing their success in the post-season. Starting from the bottom and moving our way up, the league’s ten teams have been ranked based on their combined point total over the last three weeks of the season, a good indicator of who is hot and who is not. 10(-7). Money Manziel -Total points over last 3 weeks: 501.24 2014 Record: 8-5 2013 Record: 9-4 2012 Record: 5-8 2011 Record: 9-4 MM has, by a small margin, been the worst team in the league over the last three weeks. Their season started with Ray Rice on the bench and with no where to go but up they put up 8 wins against a balanced league. Scary that 2 of their 5 losses came in the final two weeks of the season and some of their gambles have stopped paying off. How they win it all: Jimmy Graham comes out of hibernation in time to boost the TE slot, Jay Cutler gets out of his own way and the Detroit defense returns to early season form. How they lose it all: Gostkowski was able to lift this team to several regular season wins but safe to say that won’t cut it in the playoffs. If they can’t get production out of the Flex spots and Cutler can’t handle Dallas, this could be an early out. The Andre Ellington injury could not have come at a worse time. 9(0). PeytoninthePlayoffs -Total points over last 3 weeks: 507.91 2014 Record: 4-9 2013 Record: 11-2 2012 Record: 3-10 2011 Record: 10-3 Peyton finished strong this week and narrowly escaped tying his 2012 record when he went 3-10. This team has done well when drafting early and poorly when drafting late, which bodes well for the 2015 team. How they missed the playoffs: Calvin Johnson and Matt Stafford could never get it going. The injury to Johnson significantly limited this team, while Bernard’s injury late cost them some desperation wins down the stretch. Silver Lining’s Playbook: Peyton has some bright moments. Indy defense proved to be an asset for most of the year (Pittsburgh game doesn’t count). Lynch was his old self and DeSean Jackson faired really well despite the tumultuous season in Washington. 8(+2). IAMGROOT -Total points over last 3 weeks: 553.12 2014 Record: 7-6 2013 Record: 6-7 2012 Record: NA 2011 Record: NA The word “lucky” was invented for this team. After losing four straight games, including one game because they didn’t set their lineup, they won their next two games by a combined margin of victory of 000.85 points to clinch a playoff spot. Just like last year, they seal up the 6 seed over The Show Offs in the final week of the season. How they Win it all: Some things are just meant to be. They face a struggling Money Manziel in the first round so maybe they can squeak out a victory there and hope for some more miracles in the following two rounds. Aaron Rodgers has to play out of this world, which isn’t too far fetched, and his below average RB core has to pick up the slack of Steve Smith, who has been quiet since week 6. How they Lost it all: There is very little chance they can go up against teams averaging over 200 points a game and win, and all the guys who were playing well during the mid-season win streak have really sucked during the more recent losing streak. In a 10-team league there just aren’t enough heavy hitters here to make a solid run. 7(0). Becky the Icebox -Total points over the last 3 weeks: 570.30 2014 Record: 2-11 2013 Record: 4-9 2012 Record: NA 2011 Record: NA After projected to finish with one loss, this team went on to win only two games. Astonishingly enough, one of those wins came against the #1 in the league, but that was a lifetime ago. Their last loss was the icing on the bad season cake, a 0.72 point loss to IAMGROOT. How they Missed the Playoffs: Not enough production from guys drafted early. LeSean McCoy, projected to finish ranked #1 in scoring, has been #41. Brandon Marshall, projected 13, currently 61. Even Pierre Thomas, projected to finish 77, is ranked an embarrassing 182. Silver Lining’s Playbook: I may have crapped on Tony Romo a bunch but for the most part he was a bright spot on this team, finishing way ahead of his projected ranking. Darren Sproles was a nice pickup, though his production waned as the season wore on. Fleener emerged late as a premiere tight end in Luck’s arsenal and it must feel good knowing that for at least the last three weeks of the season she was slightly better than Nate. 6(-2). Papa’s Posse -Total points over last 3 weeks: 572.24 2014 Record: 7-6 2013 Record: 3-10 2012 Record: 3-10 2011 Record: 7-6 Papa’s Posse had quite an up and down season. Capable of putting up 249 points in week one, they ended the season putting up 122.97 points. Of their seven wins, only two came against playoff teams. Benefiting from a weak strength of schedule, PP did what they had to in order to win, juggling a 3-man TE core that had flashes of brilliance and riding the coat tails of two top defenses. How they Win it all: There is nothing consistent about this team, but chances are no matter the matchup, the tools they need to win are somewhere on that roster. The challenge is to pick who to start and who to sit, since there is no clear cut starting lineup here. They have to rely on instinct and matchup analysis to determind which TE will have the best day and whether their flex spots should feature two hot runningbacks, or two wide receivers. A correct lineup wins this team their second championship. How they lost it all: Take everything I said and reverse it. Making the wrong decision at Tight End could be the nail in the coffin for a team that came within 0.02 points of beating the league’s second hottest team in week one. They should be afraid of how Gore and Forte, their two elite backs, have performed down the stretch, and you have to wonder if Matt Ryan has what it takes to put up Fantasy numbers against a solid Green Bay defense next Monday night. Ryan is notoriously shitty on Monday Night Football. 5(+3). Winter Soldiers -Total points over last 3 weeks: 577.09 2014 Record: 3-10 2013 Record: 2-11 2012 Record: 8-5 2011 Record: 7-6 WS finished strong, and if the season was only three weeks long they may have been in the dance. This season featured four weeks of terrible play at QB from Tom Brady, followed by the biggest mistake in franchise history, a trade that sent Tom Brady away for two players who didn’t even finish the season on the roster. They were very small margins of victory away from a 6 win season but got in their own way a lot and it cost them. How they lost it all: WS pushed the panic button early on players like Tom Brady and Antonio Gates, listening to analysts saying the latter was too old instead of trusting instinct. Larry Fitz and Andre Johnson were victims of inconsistent QBs and Cincy Defense was a victim of being Cincy Defense. They Bengaled the whole thing up. While a missed field goal botched one big win, Jets RBs killed the other two and they ended up narrowly beating their career worst 2 win season from a year ago. Silver Lining’s Playbook: Close losses throughout the year means WS was doing something right, just not sealing the deal. They had arguably the best free agency acquisition of the season in Justin Forsett and found a scoring machine in Lafell late in the year. Jamaal Charles came back in pristine condition from his injury and has been elite ever since, while Tannehill played decent enough to start during all three WS Victories. 4(+1). The Shotti Bunch Total points over last 3 weeks: 642.98 2014 Record: 7-6 2013 Record: 9-4 2012 Record: 8-5 2011 Record: NA There is no doubt this team is not as dangerous as last year, and you’d never be able to tell this team is heating up from their 1-2 finish. They did their jobs, finishing with a 6-0 record against teams that missed the playoffs. Their only victory against a playoffs team was in week 5 against Papa’s Posse, who just so happens to be the team they face in round one. How they win it all: Continue to post 230+ point games and good things will happen. Luck continues to play like the best fantasy QB in football and flex guys stay healthy. Arizona, playing the toughest stretch of their schedule, needs to rise to the occasion on defense. How they Lose it All: Arizona has begun to spiral a little bit, losing back to back games for the first time this season. If they can’t recover, Shotti could lose about 30 points per game from them. Sammy Watkins, Arian Foster, and Rashad Jennings are all nursing injuries and could continue to miss time, which means he’d have to rely on bench players that are far from reliable. All season I have argued that they couldn’t figure out their flex spots and now they might be coming back to haunt them. 3(+3). The Show Offs Total points over the last 3 weeks: 664.44 2014 Record: 6-7 2013 Record: 5-8 2012 Record: 7-6 2011 Record: 2-11 This is by far the biggest injustice I have ever witnessed playing Fantasy Football. Even worse than the time I lost the Super Bowl by one yard. Okay, that’s still the worst but this is a close second. I don’t even know where to begin with this post and it’s paining me to write it. This team deserves to be in the playoffs, plain and simple. They worked hard on their squad all season long, they set their lineups every week, they were active participants in trades, votes, comments, etc. They took a struggling team and built a contender. How they Lost it all: Do I need to list them? Okay, I’ll list them, just so everyone who doesn’t know what I’m talking about can see. They beat a super power this week to stay alive only to have the other team they needed to win lose by 0.65. The week before they lost by 0.13 to the team they were competing against for the 6 seed, with the player he thought of starting (Vereen) on the bench with enough points for the win. They bench the win in week 8 when Brady had over 60 points against Chicago, despite my plea that they start him over Wilson. In week 5 they lose by 0.06 after once again benching Vereen and his 22 points., which would have been enough to ward off Gostkowski’s 28 points. They also benched the win in week one. Silver Linings Playbook: Basically everything I just said. Their only hope is to set their lineup as if they were in the playoffs and hope they get outscored by the team they would have supposedly been playing. That would at least settle the nerves because then they can say “Well I wouldn’t have won anyway.” I mean, that’s pretty much it. They got fucking screwed. 2(-1). Ma ma momma said Total points over the last 3 weeks: 721.44 2014 Record: 10-3 2013 Record: 9-4 2012 Record: 9-4 2011 Record: 3-10 Scary that the one time champion and most consistent team in the league has just posted their best record ever and also led the league in total points scored. As good as The Show Offs has been, this team and the only team ranked above it have been slaughtering the competition all season and it’s not even close. How they Win it all: The bye means only two victories necessary to take home trophy number two. Lucky for him, Manning plays in warm San Diego in the semi-finals. Mannings big game and continued greatness from top two RBs Murray and Bell could have them rolling to the championship game, where they’ll need all three of those guys and a little help from his WRs Hilton and Landry. Low they Lose it All: Tough to bet on Manning in Cincinnati, where the weather conditions could be brutal. Concerns at defense, where KC and Buffalo might struggle in the coming weeks against good teams. Finally, can the bench be trusted? Bishop Sankey is the top scorer (who?) and if anyone important goes down during the bye week, watch out. 1(+1). Flags on the Play Total points over the last 3 weeks: 791.63 2014 Record: 11-2 2013 Record: 7-6 2012 Record: 11-2 2011 Record: 9-4 Ladies and Gentlemen, the most diabolical unit ever assembled. They can come at you from anywhere. Players with over 300 points at Defense, WR, RB, and QB. 7 of their 16 players have over 300 points. They are the only team to have beaten every other team in the league. They are the goliath. They are the target. They’re the asteroid coming to kill the dinosaurs. The black hole Gargantua, looking to suck the Universe in to its blackness and dissemble it. How they Win it all: Ryan Mathews completes the puzzle. Brees, in a quest to win the division, churns out the best month of his season while Denver’s one two bunch Thomas and Sanders pad their stats and Odell Beckham Jr. finishes off his bid for offensive rookie of the year. How they Lose it all: Similar to last season, we could see a Super Bowl matchup that has Manning on one team, and Manning’s receivers on the other. This could cancel out Flags on the Play’s two big WR weapons and cause him to rely heavily on his RBs to complete the mission. Drew Brees in the fight for his life in the NFC South, has rarely disappointed from a fantasy standpoint, but one bad game from him could prove costly. THE MATCHUPS Shotti Bunch vs. Papa’s Posse A battle of two champions. Though Shotti comes in as a 43 point favorite, Papa’s Posse has relied on flashes of brilliance all season and you can’t really go by the projections. If he’s going to lose, he will lose big. But we will know by the end of the Thursday night game, after Forte and Witten battle it out vs. Dez Bryant, which team is ready to make a run. Prediction: Can’t bet against Papa. Sorry, Shotti. There is something voodoo-ish about this team. When they want to win, they sort of will their way to victory. IAMGROOT vs. Money Manziel A battle of two struggling teams. One snuck in at the last second, the other performed well early and then limped to the finish line. One of them has to win, but this is only the appetizer before the main course as they will most likely be feasted on by the 1 or 2 seed in the following week. PREDICTION: IAMGROOT keeps the shocking and often disappointing Cindarella story alive one more week, just long enough to be raped by his Best Friend Zach by 5000 points the following week. NEXT WEEK: -Rules for the consolation round and what they mean for the 2015 Draft. -Superlatives -Predictions for Semi-Final matchups. -Probabl more stuff unless I’m lazy!